EP1915753B1 - Transducteur matriciel large bande a troisieme couche d'adaptation en polyethylene - Google Patents

Transducteur matriciel large bande a troisieme couche d'adaptation en polyethylene Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1915753B1
EP1915753B1 EP06780138.1A EP06780138A EP1915753B1 EP 1915753 B1 EP1915753 B1 EP 1915753B1 EP 06780138 A EP06780138 A EP 06780138A EP 1915753 B1 EP1915753 B1 EP 1915753B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
matching layer
transducer
matching
layer
piezoelectric element
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Active
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EP06780138.1A
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP1915753A2 (fr
Inventor
Heather Knowles
Bill Ossmann
Martha Wilson
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Koninklijke Philips NV
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Koninklijke Philips NV
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10K—SOUND-PRODUCING DEVICES; METHODS OR DEVICES FOR PROTECTING AGAINST, OR FOR DAMPING, NOISE OR OTHER ACOUSTIC WAVES IN GENERAL; ACOUSTICS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G10K11/00—Methods or devices for transmitting, conducting or directing sound in general; Methods or devices for protecting against, or for damping, noise or other acoustic waves in general
    • G10K11/02—Mechanical acoustic impedances; Impedance matching, e.g. by horns; Acoustic resonators
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T29/00—Metal working
    • Y10T29/42—Piezoelectric device making

Definitions

  • An ultrasound transducer serves to convert electrical signals into ultrasonic energy and to convert ultrasonic energy back into electrical signals.
  • the ultrasonic energy may be used, for example, to interrogate a body of interest and the echoes received from the body by the transducer may be used to obtain diagnostic information.
  • One particular application is in medical imaging wherein the echoes are used to form two and three dimensional images of the internal organs of a patient.
  • Ultrasound transducers use a matching layer or a series of matching layers to more effectively couple the acoustic energy produced in the piezoelectric to the body of the subject or patient.
  • the matching layers lie above the transducer, in proximity of the body being probed.
  • Acoustic coupling is accomplished, layer-by-layer, in a manner analogous to the functioning of respective anti-reflection coatings for lenses in an optical path.
  • the relatively high acoustic impedance of the piezoelectric material in a transducer in comparison to that of the body is spanned by the intervening impedances of the matching layers.
  • a design might, for example, call for a first matching layer of particular impedance.
  • the first matching layer is the first layer encountered by the sound path from the transducer to the body.
  • Each successive matching layer, if any, requires progressively lower impedance.
  • the impedance of the topmost layer is still higher than that of the body, but the one or more layers provide a smoother transition, impedance-wise, in acoustically coupling the ultrasound generated by the piezoelectric to the body and in coupling the ultrasound returning from the body to the piezoelectric.
  • Optimal layering involves a design of an appropriate series of acoustic impedances and the identification of respective materials.
  • Materials used in the matching layers of one-dimensional (ID) transducers whose elements are aligned in a single row include ceramics, graphite composites, polyurethane, etc.
  • 1D transducers have been known to include a number of matching layers
  • transducers configured with a two-dimensional (2D) array of transducer elements require a different matching layer scheme due to the different shape of the transducer elements.
  • a traveling sound wave oscillates at a frequency characteristic of that particular sound wave, and the frequency has an associated wavelength.
  • the elements of 1D array transducers are typically less than half a wavelength wide of the operating frequency in one transverse direction, but several wavelengths long in the other transverse direction.
  • Elements of a 2D array transducer may be less than half a wavelength wide in both transverse directions. This change of shape reduces the effective longitudinal stiffness, and therefore, the mechanical impedance of the element.
  • the piezoelectric elements of 1D and 2D array transducers typically have been made of polycrystalline ceramic materials, one of the most common being lead zirconate titanate (PZT).
  • PZT lead zirconate titanate
  • Single-crystal piezoelectric materials are becoming available, e.g., mono-crystalline lead manganese niobate/lead titanate (PMN/PT) alloys.
  • Piezoelectric transducer elements made from these monocrystalline materials exhibit significantly higher electro-mechanical coupling which potentially affords improved sensitivity and bandwidth.
  • the present inventors observe that the increased electro-mechanical coupling of single-crystal piezoelectrics also produces a lower effective acoustic impedance. As a result, it is preferable to select matching layers of acoustic impedance lower than those for a typical poly-crystalline transducer such as a ceramic one.
  • a second matching layer usable for ceramic transducers such as graphite composite, may serve as a first matching layer for a three matching layer, mono-crystalline transducer.
  • the first and second matching layers typically are stiff enough that the layers for each element of the array must be separated from each other mechanically to keep each element acoustically independent of the others. Most often, this is done by means of saw cuts in two directions that penetrate the two matching layers and the piezoelectric material.
  • Another consideration may be electrical conductivity, which would not present a problem for isotropically conductive graphite composite.
  • Finding a suitable second matching layer may involve selecting a material with not only the proper acoustic impedance, but appropriate electrical conductivity.
  • a piezoelectric transducer of an ultrasound probe relies upon electric fields produced in the piezoelectric. These fields are produced and detected by means of electrodes attached to at least two faces of the piezoelectric To generate ultrasound, for example, a voltage is applied between the electrodes requiring electrical connections to be made to the electrodes. Each element of the transducer might receive a different electrical input. Terminals to the transducer elements are sometimes attached perpendicularly to the sound path, although this can be problematic for internal elements of two-dimensional matrix arrays. Accordingly, it may be preferable to attach the elements to a common ground on top of, or under, the array. A matching layer may serve as a ground plane, or a separate ground plane may be provided. The ground plane may be implemented with an electrically-conductive foil thin enough to avoid perturbing the ultrasound.
  • the first matching layer is preferably made electrically-conductive in the sound path direction in order to complete an electrical circuit that flows from behind and through the array. Because the 2D array elements are mechanically separated, e.g. by saw cuts in two directions producing individual posts, there is no electrical path for an element in the interior of the array laterally to the edge of the array. Accordingly, the electrical path must be completed through the matching layer. The same principle holds for the second matching layer.
  • Polyurethane with an acoustic impedance of around 2.1 MegaRayls (MRayls), might serve as a third matching layer, which requires the lower impedance than the first or second layers.
  • MRayls MegaRayls
  • polyurethane is very susceptible to chemical reaction. Accordingly, polyurethane requires a protective coating to seal the polyurethane and the rest of the transducer array from environmental contamination as from chemical disinfecting agents and humidity.
  • different production runs may yield different thicknesses of the protective coating, leading to uneven acoustic performance among produced probes.
  • the need for a separate process to apply the protective coating increases production cost enormously.
  • EP 1 542 005 A1 discloses an ultrasonic probe including a piezoelectric oscillator layer having plural arranged piezoelectric oscillators for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves and plural electrodes formed in the piezoelectric oscillators, an acoustic lens for focusing or diffusing the ultrasonic waves, and an acoustic matching layer that is provided between the piezoelectric oscillator layer and the acoustic lens and includes a resin base and fine particles, which have electric conductivity, mixed in the resin base.
  • an ultrasound transducer which includes a piezoelectric element, and first through third matching layers.
  • the first matching layer is arranged on the piezoelectric element, made of a graphite composite;
  • the second matching layer is arranged on the first matching layer, made of a polymer loaded with electrically-conductive particles; and the third matching layer is arranged on the second matching layer.
  • the ultrasound transducer further comprises a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film that includes said third matching layer and extends downwardly to surround said piezoelectric element.
  • LDPE low-density polyethylene
  • FIG. 1 shows, by way of illustrative and non-limitative example, a matrix transducer 100 usable in an ultrasound probe according to the present invention.
  • the matrix transducer 100 has a piezoelectric layer 110, three matching layers 120, 130, 140, a film 150 that incorporates the third matching layer 140, an interconnect layer 155, one or more semiconductor chips (ICs) 160 and a backing 165.
  • the piezoelectric layer 110 is comprised of a two-dimensional array 170 of transducer elements 175, rows being parallel to, and columns of the array being perpendicular to the drawing sheet for FIG. 1 .
  • the transducer 100 further includes a common ground plane 180 between the second and third matching layers 130, 140 that extends peripherally to wrap around downwardly for attachment to a flexible circuit 185, thereby completing circuits for individual transducer elements 175.
  • the transducer element 175 is joined to a semiconductor chip 160 by stud bumps 190 or other means, and the chip is connected to the flexible circuit 185.
  • a coaxial cable (not shown) coming from the back of the ultrasound probe typically is joined to the flexible circuit 185.
  • the matrix transducer 100 may be utilized for transmitting ultrasound and/or receiving ultrasound.
  • the first matching layer 120 is implemented as a graphite composite.
  • Epoxy matching layers transmit sound with sufficient speed, and have density, and therefore acoustic impedance, that is sufficiently low for implementation as a second matching layer of a three-layer matrix transducer; however, epoxy layers are electrically non-conductive.
  • the second matching layer 130 is a polymer loaded with electrically-conductive particles.
  • the third matching layer 140 is made of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and is part of the LDPE film 150 that extends downwardly in a manner similar to that of the common ground plane 180.
  • LDPE low-density polyethylene
  • the third matching layer 140 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 attaches, by way of an epoxy bond 210, to a housing 220 of the transducer 100 to form a hermetic seal around the array 170.
  • the epoxy bond 210 also may be used between the transducer housing 220 and an acoustic lens 230 overriding the third matching layer 140.
  • FIG. 3 sets forth one example of a process for making the probe 100 of FIG. 1 so as to include LDPE film 110 embodying the third matching layer 140.
  • piezoelectric material and the first two matching layers 120, 130 are machined to the correct thicknesses and electrodes are applied to the piezoelectric layer 110 (step S310).
  • the second matching layer is applied (step S330).
  • This assembly of layers 110, 120, 130 may be attached directly to the integrated circuits 160, if present, or to intermediary connecting means, e.g. the flexible circuit 185 or a backing structure with embedded conductors.
  • the transducer 100 then is separated into a 2D array 170 of individual elements 175 by making multiple saw cuts in two orthogonal directions (step S340).
  • the ground plane 180 is bonded to the top of the second matching layer 130 and wrapped down around the array 170 to make contact with the flexible circuit 185 or other connecting means.
  • the LDPE film 110 is applied on top and wrapped around to extend downwardly thereby surrounding the array 170. Part of the film 150 accordingly forms the topmost matching layer, which here is the third matching layer 140 (steps S350, S360).
  • the downwardly extended film 150 is bonded, as by epoxy 210, to the housing 220 (step S370).
  • the LDPE also serves as a barrier layer.
  • RTV room temperature vulcanization
  • the first and second matching layers 120, 130 may be bonded together before being applied as a unit to the piezoelectric material 110.
  • the acoustic design may call for one or more acoustic layers behind the piezoelectric layer 110.
  • the acoustic lens 230 is replaced with a window, i.e., an element with no focusing acoustical power.
  • the window may be made of the window material PEBAX, for instance.
  • PEBAX window material
  • a PEBAX window would need not only a protective layer for the polyurethane third matching layer, but, in addition, an intervening bonding layer made, for example of a polyester material such as Mylar, to bond the protective layer to the PEBAX.
  • LDPE can bond directly to the PEBAX; accordingly, neither a protective layer nor a bonding layer is needed.
  • the double layer of PEBAX window material and LDPE film 150 can be made before attaching it to the second matching layer 130 connected to the array 170 by the first matching layer 120.
  • the resulting transducer 100 with PEBAX window is usable not only for trans-esophageal echocardiography (TEE), but for other applications such as an intra-cardiac-echocardiography (ICE).
  • TEE trans-esophageal echocardiography
  • ICE intra-cardiac-echocardiography
  • the LDPE could be cut to size and not wrapped.
  • the inventive matching layers may be incorporated into other types of probes such as pediatric probes, and onto various types of arrays such as curved linear and vascular arrays.

Claims (4)

  1. Transducteur à ultrasons (100) comprenant :
    un élément piézoélectrique (175) et caractérisé en ce qu'il comprend en outre
    une première couche d'adaptation (120) agencée sur l'élément piézoélectrique (175), faite d'un composé de graphite ;
    une deuxième couche d'adaptation (130) agencée sur la première couche d'adaptation (120), faite d'un polymère chargé de particules électriquement conductrices ; et
    une troisième couche d'adaptation (140) agencée sur la deuxième couche d'adaptation (130) ;
    dans lequel le transducteur à ultrasons (100) comprend un film de polyéthylène à basse densité (LDPE) (150) qui inclut ladite troisième couche d'adaptation (140) et qui s'étend vers le bas pour entourer ledit élément piézoélectrique (175).
  2. Transducteur selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ledit film de LDPE (150) forme une partie d'un joint autour dudit élément piézoélectrique (175).
  3. Procédé de fabrication d'un transducteur à ultrasons (100) comprenant :
    la fourniture d'un élément piézoélectrique (175) ; et étant caractérisé en ce qu'il comprend en outre
    la fourniture de l'élément avec trois couches d'adaptation (120, 130, 140) en agençant une première couche d'adaptation (120) faite d'un composé de graphite sur l'élément piézoélectrique (175), une deuxième couche d'adaptation (130) faite d'un polymère chargé de particules électriquement conductrices sur la première couche d'adaptation (120) et une troisième couche d'adaptation (140) sur la deuxième couche d'adaptation (130) ;
    dans lequel la fourniture fournit un film de polyéthylène à basse densité (LDPE) (150) qui inclut ladite troisième couche d'adaptation (140) et qui s'étend vers le bas pour entourer ledit élément piézoélectrique (175).
  4. Procédé selon la revendication 3, dans lequel ledit film de LDPE (150) forme une partie d'un joint (210) autour dudit élément piézoélectrique (175).
EP06780138.1A 2005-08-08 2006-07-19 Transducteur matriciel large bande a troisieme couche d'adaptation en polyethylene Active EP1915753B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US70639905P 2005-08-08 2005-08-08
PCT/IB2006/052476 WO2007017776A2 (fr) 2005-08-08 2006-07-19 Transducteur matriciel large bande a troisieme couche d'adaptation en polyethylene

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1915753A2 EP1915753A2 (fr) 2008-04-30
EP1915753B1 true EP1915753B1 (fr) 2019-04-10

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EP06780138.1A Active EP1915753B1 (fr) 2005-08-08 2006-07-19 Transducteur matriciel large bande a troisieme couche d'adaptation en polyethylene

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US8030824B2 (fr)
EP (1) EP1915753B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP2009505468A (fr)
CN (1) CN101238506A (fr)
RU (1) RU2418384C2 (fr)
WO (1) WO2007017776A2 (fr)

Families Citing this family (17)

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US7804228B2 (en) 2007-12-18 2010-09-28 Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc. Composite passive materials for ultrasound transducers
US8390174B2 (en) 2007-12-27 2013-03-05 Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc. Connections for ultrasound transducers
CN102548496B (zh) * 2009-09-15 2015-04-29 皇家飞利浦电子股份有限公司 具有力探测的医学超声设备
US8232705B2 (en) * 2010-07-09 2012-07-31 General Electric Company Thermal transfer and acoustic matching layers for ultrasound transducer
US9237880B2 (en) 2011-03-17 2016-01-19 Koninklijke Philips N.V. Composite acoustic backing with high thermal conductivity for ultrasound transducer array
CN103814305B (zh) * 2011-09-22 2017-06-13 皇家飞利浦有限公司 针对低成本换能器阵列的激励方案
NL2008459C2 (en) 2012-03-09 2013-09-10 Oldelft B V A method of manufacturing an ultrasound transducer for use in an ultrasound imaging device, and an ultrasound transducer and ultrasound probe manufactured according to the method.
WO2015068080A1 (fr) 2013-11-11 2015-05-14 Koninklijke Philips N.V. Sondes à transducteurs à ultrasons robustes dont les interconnexions de circuits intégrés sont protégées
WO2015145296A1 (fr) 2014-03-27 2015-10-01 Koninklijke Philips N.V. Sondes et systèmes ultrasonores comprenant des transducteurs au pin-pmn-pt, une couche de désadaptation, et des matériaux support thermiquement conducteurs améliorés
WO2015145402A1 (fr) 2014-03-27 2015-10-01 Koninklijke Philips N.V. Matériaux de support thermiquement conducteurs pour sondes et systèmes à ultrasons
US9789515B2 (en) * 2014-05-30 2017-10-17 Fujifilm Dimatix, Inc. Piezoelectric transducer device with lens structures
EP3028772B1 (fr) 2014-12-02 2022-12-28 Samsung Medison Co., Ltd. Capteur ultrasonique et son procédé de fabrication
KR102406927B1 (ko) * 2014-12-02 2022-06-10 삼성메디슨 주식회사 초음파 프로브 및 그 제조방법
AU2017323625B2 (en) * 2016-09-09 2022-07-21 EchoNous, Inc. Flexible circuit with redundant connection points for ultrasound array
US11756520B2 (en) * 2016-11-22 2023-09-12 Transducer Works LLC 2D ultrasound transducer array and methods of making the same
US10850308B2 (en) 2017-02-24 2020-12-01 Sensus Spectrum, Llc Ultrasonic device including acoustically matched regions therein
CN110680390A (zh) * 2019-10-25 2020-01-14 飞依诺科技(苏州)有限公司 超声换能器及超声换能器的制备方法

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1915753A2 (fr) 2008-04-30
JP2009505468A (ja) 2009-02-05
WO2007017776A3 (fr) 2007-12-06
RU2418384C2 (ru) 2011-05-10
CN101238506A (zh) 2008-08-06
US8030824B2 (en) 2011-10-04
WO2007017776A2 (fr) 2007-02-15
RU2008108989A (ru) 2009-09-20
US20100168581A1 (en) 2010-07-01

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